Booloominbah: a convalescent home

Surrounded by shady verandas, the ivy-clad homestead was renowned for summer garden parties and tennis matches hosted by the Whites. A large staff maintained its lawns, gardens, deer park, orchard, and livestock. As The Armidale Express aptly described in June 1933, Booloominbah was "a lovable mansion, where homeliness breaks down repressive austerity" and was "dear to rich and poor, young and old alike."

Following Frederick's death in 1903, the estate contracted. However, during the height of the Great War, Sarah White, by then 74, opened her home to the Australian Red Cross. This turned the once family mansion into a Red Cross convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers returning from European battlefields.

Sarah and her daughter Adelaide, a Red Cross Voluntary Aid member, helped to transform their family home into a place of healing. A dedicated team of volunteer nurses helped rehabilitate approximately 370 returned servicemen over three years. Many bore the physical and psychological scars of trench warfare and the Western Front.

Image: Booloominbah Red Cross Volunteers (UNE Archives A1473)

The "beautiful grounds" and "splendid appointments" proved ideal for rehabilitation. The soldiers, many still processing the horrors of Gallipoli, Pozières, and Passchendaele, found respite in Booloominbah's tranquil setting. Sarah White was described as "a mother to them all" by The Armidale Express.

"Every man she greeted at the entrance hall with a warm handshake of welcome and every man carried her blessing when the time came for him to take his departure."

Apart from the family wing occupied by Sarah, Adelaide, and a few servants, the returned soldiers had full access to Booloominbah's amenities, including its billiard room and extensive grounds. Weekly church services were conducted on the verandah, providing spiritual comfort to men who had witnessed unimaginable suffering. The signing of the Armistice in November 1918 was celebrated with enthusiasm—a large bonfire and fireworks were ceremonially launched by the firing of a double-barrelled shotgun.

Armidale contributed substantially to the war effort, with hundreds of local men enlisting. The convalescent home at Booloominbah became a symbol of the region's commitment to those who had served. Local families regularly visited, bringing home-cooked meals and offering companionship to soldiers far from their own homes.

The 1919 drought and the devastating Spanish influenza pandemic brought an end to Booloominbah’s use as a convalescent facility. After the property was thoroughly cleaned and a quarantine held in the deer park — where at least one soldier was isolated — Booloominbah returned to use as a private family home.

Today, Booloominbah is the historic centrepiece of the University of New England. It houses the office of the Vice Chancellor and senior staff and provides a magnificent backdrop for graduation ceremonies. While its function has changed, the building "has retained, perhaps miraculously, the feeling of being not just a house, but a home as well" and remains a "comforting reminder of a more relaxed world" while honouring those who served and recuperated within its walls.

As we commemorate ANZAC Day, Booloominbah's wartime history reminds us of the multifaceted nature of service and sacrifice—not only of those who fought abroad but also those who devoted themselves to healing and rehabilitating Australia's returning heroes.

You can see one of Booloominbah’s wheelchairs used during this time on display at the Armidale Folk Museum.

Sources: Armidale Express archives on Trove, and 'House on the hill : Booloominbah, home and university, 1888-1988' by Dr Bruce Mitchell.